Chapter 44/The Bathroom Scandal

Chapter 44: 44/The Bathroom Scandal

Chapter 44

Alexander’s Point of View

My body stiffened where I stood, and I felt a strange shiver run through my limbs that Cedric didn’t notice due to his breakdown. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing; his words surpassed any fantasy I had ever imagined.

"What are you saying, Cedric?" I asked, trying to regain my balance.

"Stephanie’s father is threatening to abort my children if I don’t marry her," he answered in a broken voice, hiding his face in his hands. "Grandfather refused to cancel my engagement, and he told her father that you are the one who will marry her."

At that moment, I felt an explosion of emotions inside my chest. I wanted to laugh, to jump, to scream out loud so the whole world would know! Finally, Stephanie and I are getting married... she will be my wife, she will be mine alone and under my name.

But I clamped my jaws shut and clenched my fist behind my back so that no expression would betray me before my shattered brother.

Cedric noticed my silence and asked painfully, "Alex, what’s wrong? Why don’t you answer me?"

"I’m just shocked," I said with forced calmness, taking a deep breath.

He sighed bitterly and began to pace the room with staggering steps. "Me too... I don’t know what to do, Alex. Imagine that Stephanie won’t be my wife, but yours, and I am condemned to live with Isabella."

I won’t lie; I felt a pang of sadness for him. He is still my brother and I love him, but at the same time, I don’t want Steph to be his... I want her for myself.

Cedric continued, looking at me with eyes red from sheer oppression. "When I think about this, I go mad, Alex. But I know you... I know you won’t touch her because she belongs to me."

Fire ignited within me at his last words. If only you knew, Cedric, that she belongs to me, and that she was mine long before she was yours! If only Stephanie would let me tell you that she was my lover.

"Cedric, I don’t know what to say," I said in a low voice, trying to avoid his gaze.

Suddenly, Cedric approached me and fixed his sharp gaze on my eyes, saying in a tone carrying a deep warning: "Alex, beware of setting your eyes on her... I know you love redheads. Do you think I’ve forgotten when you were in a relationship with your redhead student?"

My back stiffened completely and I swallowed hard. I remembered moment when Cedric had glimpsed me with Stephanie in the past, but he had only seen the back of her red hair and it never crossed his mind that she was the same girl he is fighting for now.

"What reminds you of this now?" I asked, trying to distract him.

"If you were ready to risk your career when you were a professor for that student," he said, suspicion starting to appear on his features, "then that makes me doubt you, Alex."

I felt the noose tightening, so I tried to attack instead of defend to drive away suspicions. I said coldly, "Cedric, you only met the girl a short while ago, and you talk about her as if you’ve loved her for years!"

Cedric closed his eyes tightly and whispered in a voice full of sincerity: "I love her... as if I’ve known her since I was born."

I shook my head with biting irony, averting my gaze. "Cedric, you change women like a person changes socks, and you want me to believe you love her? What nonsense!" I said harshly.

Cedric looked away, putting his hand on his forehead tiredly as if weighing my words. Then he said in a low voice mixed with pain:

"Maybe I was like that, Alexander, but Stephanie is different... she’s the only girl who made me feel like I want to be a better man. A man who protects her and protects his children."

I looked at him coldly, unaffected by his emotional words. Instead, I asked him while folding my arms across my chest:

"Very well, Cedric. And did you speak with Stephanie? What did she say?"

He exhaled in frustration, and heartbreak appeared on his features as he said:

"She doesn’t want to talk to me because I’m engaged. She thinks I deceived her."

"You did deceive her," I replied with a coldness like a blade.

Cedric jolted and shouted, trying to defend himself:

"I don’t love Isabella! I didn’t want this engagement!"

I fixed my piercing gaze on him and said sternly:

"But you are engaged. You should have acted accordingly, Cedric."

At this, Cedric exploded in anger and took a step toward me, pointing his finger:

"You should have been the one engaged to Isabella! You’re the eldest son!"

I raised an eyebrow in irony, feeling a desire to laugh at his insolence. "Are you going to put the blame on me now?" I asked sharply.

"Yes, you!" he said, nearly screaming from pure oppression. "You’re the one who was running away from this family!"

I approached him until our eyes met in burning stares. I said in a commanding hiss:

"Cedric, you can’t blame me. Shall I remind you that you were the one who approached Isabella? Didn’t her father find you two kissing in the bathroom?"

As soon as I spoke those words, Cedric lowered his head and didn’t utter a word, shame mixed with confusion appearing on his face. I continued my attack, pacing the lounge back and forth:

"It’s easy for you to blame me. Yes, I was supposed to be the one engaged to Isabella, but this is your fault... you’re the one who can’t restrain yourself. Every time you see a girl, you want to fuck her!"

Cedric gnashed his teeth hard, and signs of breakdown appeared as he shouted:

"Enough, Alex! Are you lecturing me now?"

"I’m not doing that," I said with lethal coolness, stopping directly in front of him. "But you want to make me the guilty one, while you’re the one who should admit his mistakes."

"I didn’t think this would happen," he whispered in a choked voice, trying to justify the unjustifiable. "It was just a kiss."

"She isn’t just any girl, she’s Isabella Mortiz!" I replied in a firm tone that made him recoil. "Did you think her father would see you in the bathroom kissing her and do nothing?"

Feeling helpless, Cedric wiped his face violently and moved toward the door with angry steps. "I’m not ready to listen to your lectures, Professor... I’m leaving," he said.

I didn’t try to stop him. Instead, I gave him the final word that made him stiffen for a moment before he departed:

"Yes, go... that’s what you’re good at."